“Sienna, don’t go. Please,” Connor said, as his wife prepared to make her exit.
Aiden, his siblings, and I had tried to persuade Sienna to stay—to hear Connor out. We’d told her of the unkempt state in which we’d found him. We’d gone as far as telling her of the eye-opening conversations we’d shared with her husband—conversations which revealed the magnitude of Connor’s remorse for neglecting what was most important over the years. Despite our pleas, Sienna remained firm on her stance of placing space between Connor and a way of life she felt would never change.
“Why, Connor?” Sienna asked, spinning around to face her husband. “Why would I stay and subject myself to more of the same?”
Although Connor appeared speechless, his expression exhibited desperation for something—anything—that would give Sienna reason to take pause. He wanted his wife, but he had no idea of what it would take to keep her.
“Dad, now is your chance to tell Mother the things you shared with us,” Aiden urged.
Sienna released her hold of the door knob and waited—her expression doubtful that Connor could say very much of anything that would change her mind.
Connor took a few determined steps toward his wife. “Enna, I’ve been a fool. I know that,” he said.
Sienna’s resolve appeared unshaken, but then her stance wavered. “You haven’t called me that in years,” she replied, choking back the emotion stirred by the use of her nickname.
“I haven’t done a lot of things in years,” Connor replied. “I owe you a great deal more than what I’ve given you. Stay. I can be the man you fell in love with. He’s still in here,” he said, placing his hand over his heart. “Just as you are.”
Sienna’s eyes widened. “What’s happened to you?” It was as though she were looking at an apparition—undoubtedly as shocked, if not more so, as we’d all been to hear Connor’s expressions of love and regret.
“I want to get back to who we were—before the money, before the kids. Please give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me,” he said, extending a hand to his wife.
Despite her early declarations of breaking ties with Connor, it was easy to see Sienna wanted to say yes. But she hesitated, her eyes cautious as she looked at each of us.
“Mommy. Do it. Please,” Allison urged.
Nicholas echoed Allison’s plea, but Sienna didn’t budge.
“Mom, I understand your hesitance,” Sloan said. “But I think you should give him a chance.”
Sienna looked toward her younger son for guidance, or maybe it was approval. “Aiden,” she said.
Aiden crossed the room to his mother and pulled her hand into his. “I know why you’re asking me. Because of all the children, I’ve expressed the worst opinion of Dad over the years. And I’ll be honest, if you’d asked me this before I came to Chicago a few days ago, I would have told you to cut your losses. But after observing and listening to my father over the past several days, I think you’d be making a mistake if you walked away without at least giving the old guy a shot.”
“Hey, I’m not too old to kick your butt, son,” Connor said, stepping closer to Sienna.
Aiden laughed as he placed his mother’s hand into Connor’s and stepped back, allowing the estranged husband and wife a moment of closeness. Sienna glanced back and forth between her son and husband, astounded by their jovial exchange. Her gaze fell to her hand resting inside Connor’s, and a smile gradually appeared. “I’m not sure what’s happened since I’ve been gone, but I guess I’d be an old fool, too, if I didn’t at least hang around long enough to find out,” she said.
*****
Connor and Sienna disappeared upstairs for the better part of the evening. Actually, we didn’t see them anymore until the following afternoon, a little after lunch, when they strolled into the family room, hand in hand.
“I’m taking my wife out to celebrate,” Connor announced.
“Your reconciliation?” Aiden asked, looking up from the toy he was holding for Lyric.
“No, my awakening,” Connor replied, looking at his wife, his gaze warm with adoration.
“So does this mean we’re a family again?” Nicholas asked.
“It means your father and I are committed to healing our marriage,” Sienna said.
Sloan rushed over and hugged her parents. “I’m so relieved. We all are,” she said.
“So where is our celebration taking place?” Aiden asked.
“Thank you all for your support, but Enna and I have plans for two,” Connor replied.
Sienna and Connor looked happier than I’d ever seen them. Sure, I’d caught a glimpse of joy here and there, but nothing as obvious and profound as the couple who were beaming at us now.
“That’s a great idea,” Allison said, and smiled at her parents. “Daddy and Mommy need some alone time,” she said. “So while they’re celebrating, we should too. Why don’t we all go to the sky lounge tonight? You know, the one on West Erie Street.”
“Vertigo?” Nicholas asked.
“Yes, that’s the one,” Allison said.
“I don’t have any club appropriate clothes,” I said. “But hey, it gives us an excuse to shop, right?”
“Exactly,” Allison replied.
“You kids enjoy yourselves,” Sienna said.
“And that goes for you two, also,” I said. “Have a wonderful time, Connor and Sienna.”
“We plan to,” Connor replied, and with his palm at Sienna’s waist, he guided her out of the room.
Allison spun around toward me and Aiden. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go,” she said. “You too, Sloan,” she added.
I looked at Aiden. He was still on the floor with Lyric, persuading him to walk. Although he could walk, Lyric’s preference was to crawl or scoot across the floor. Part of me wanted to stay back and play with them. After the mess of the last few days, I relished time with my two favorite guys … time when nothing mattered except the three of us.
“Aria, they can come with. Right, Aiden?” Allison asked, when she noticed my hesitation.
“Wrong,” Aiden said. “I’ve shopped with Aria before, so I know how it is. Multiply that times the three of you and I think it leans toward any guy’s worst nightmare. Lyric and I are fine. Go ahead without us.”
“What will you wear?” I asked.
“I have a closet full of clothes upstairs,” he said.
“Fine. Stay here.”
“Are you upset with me?” he teased.
“No, but you may just want to go. Just to see what I pick out,” I said, raising my brows suggestively.
“I love you in whatever you wear. You know that.”
“Ugh. You two,” Allison said. “We get it. You’re in love. You can’t get enough of each other. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s go, Aria. We don’t need Aiden killing our buzz anyways,” she said.
“Oh, I’m a buzz kill now?” he asked.
“Now? You’ve always been a buzz kill,” she said, laughing.
*****
My afternoon with Allison and Sloan resulted in a pile of clothes scattered across the bed. Aiden was already dressed and downstairs, ready for an evening out on the town, while I stood surveying the damage of my impromptu shopping spree. I quickly deduced I had too many choices. After a period of going back and forth, trying on this and axing that, I finally decided on the black lace top, ultra-short leather shorts, and thigh-high boots.
Just as I slipped into the boots, my phone pinged. It was a text from Allison prompting me to hurry. Except for Nicholas, everyone was waiting in the billiards room to start our evening. I rushed to the bathroom, applied my makeup, added some volume to my hair, and headed downstairs.
Stepping out of the bedroom, I almost ran right smack into Nicholas.
“Hot damn! Further proof you’re with the wrong Raine brother, Ms. Aria.”
“You know, Aiden’s gonna snap one of these days if you keep saying things like that,” I said, reaching up to hug my brother-in-law.
“I’m not worried. I can take him.” Nicholas’ eyes washed over me again. “By the way, has Aiden seen you in these clothes?”
“No,” I said, my gaze following his. “Why?”
Nicholas flashed his cheeky grin. “That explains why you still have them on.”
“What?”
“You know he’s not going to let you walk out of the house in that,” Nicholas replied, very matter-of-factly.
“Excuse you, Nicholas, but I’m an adult. I don’t require Aiden’s approval for my wardrobe. He’s not the boss of me.”
“Are you implying he’s the boss of me?” he asked, grinning, as we headed to the stairwell.
“You said it, not me,” I replied.
“I guarantee he thinks he’s the boss of you. He thinks he’s the boss of everybody.”
That was true, but I wouldn’t let Aiden even think he could determine what I’d wear. As we started down the stairs, I surveyed my clothing again and then looked up at Nicholas. “You don’t think he’ll like it?”
“Oh, he’s going to more than like it. He may bring you back up here and show you just how much he likes it. I know I kid around about it, but had you crossed my path first, you would have been mine.”
“What makes you think I would have been a willing conquest?” I asked, as we made our way down the last flight of stairs. “I’ve heard you’re quite the playboy, and man whores aren’t really my thing.”
“Not with you. You’re the kind of woman that makes playboys stop playing. Why do you think Aiden is so head fucked over you?”
“I didn’t know he was.”
“He’s changed. I know a lot of it has to do with my nephew, but even before the baby, he was different. And this thing with the merger, he never would have gone through with that had you not been in his life.”
Nicholas and I stepped into the entertainment room and my eyes immediately found Aiden’s. He was reclining on the couch, smoking a cigar. His leg was crossed, his ankle resting on his knee.
Allison whistled and I forced my eyes away from Aiden’s, smiling at his sister’s compliment.
“I think Aria should be on my arm,” Nicholas announced to the others.
“And why is that?” I asked.
“I’ll appreciate you in something like this far more than Aiden will. He’s not going to be cool with you going out like this. Isn’t that right, bro?”
I watched as Aiden drank me in. A slow, sexy smile graced his perfectly sculpted lips as his dark gaze slid over me. Smoke coolly escaped his mouth as he exhaled. Uncrossing his leg, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He dropped the cigar in a canister on the table, and then he looked at Nicholas. “She’s gorgeous and most importantly, she’s mine.” He smirked and glanced back at me, the heat of his gaze touching my skin as his eyes held mine. “I’m not worried. She knows who she’s coming home with.”
“Stop instigating, Nicholas,” I said.
“Where’s your date?” Aiden asked his brother.
“She’s running a little late,” Nicholas said, and checked his phone. “But she should be here in a few.”
“You have a date?” Sloan asked. “One that you’re allowing to come here?”
“Well, I figure since Mom and Dad have finally stopped interfering in our love lives, I can do what I’ve always done. The only difference is, thanks to Aria and Aiden, there’s no need to do it away from prying eyes anymore.”
“Just one more thing to add to the list of changes I’ve made to this family,” I said, with a grimace. “Who’s your date? Anyone we know?”
Nicholas pulled his gaze from his brother and looked at me. “Aiden didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“It’s Anja.”
“Lyric’s former nanny?” I asked.
“That’s the only Anja I know,” Nicholas replied.
“God no.” I thought I’d seen the last of that nurse. When Aiden first learned he had a son, he’d hired Anja as Lyric’s nanny. Of course he’d done it without my consent and that, along with Anja’s less than professional interest to please Aiden, had been a source of tension between Aiden and me.
“What’s wrong?” Nicholas asked.
“Aria isn’t too fond of Ms. Schmidt,” Aiden said, with a wry smile.
“You’re an asshole. Do you know that?” I asked, sneering at Aiden.
“So I’ve been told.”
*****
Sitting in the V.I.P. section of Vertigo, we’d started on our second round of drinks when Grayson Miller approached our secluded table.
“Glad to see you could make it,” Aiden said, standing to greet his friend.
“I can’t miss out on a chance to party with the Aiden Raine,” he said jokingly.
“You remember Aria,” Aiden said, re-introducing me to his friend.
“Yes, we met at your party,” Grayson said. “And I remember asking you for a dance and you declined, so what about now?” he asked, having directed his full attention to me.
I looked at Aiden.
“Go ahead,” Aiden replied with a nod toward the area surrounding the disc jockey.
Grayson grasped my hand and led me to the dance floor. I really wanted to dance with my husband, but for some reason he’d been resistant to my overtures. Before I could give Aiden’s stubbornness any further thought, I was moving to Tinie Tempah’s Girls Like as Grayson pulled me to the edge of the floor. He and I were soon a mix of body rolls and gestures that I knew Aiden would disapprove of, but the music had completely taken over my rational thinking. I’d dropped it a little lower than I should have when a hand was suddenly at my waist. I stood upright, prepared to push it away, and was surprised by what I saw when I spun around.
“Don’t do that again,” Aiden said, having taken Grayson’s place.
“Do what?” I asked, still moving to the beat, and hoping to tempt him to dance.
“Bend over like that,” he said, frowning his disapproval.
“And if I do?” I teased.
“You got the reaction you wanted from me,” he said. “Let’s leave it at that.”
What was his problem? The playful glint I’d seen in his eyes earlier was gone.
“Hey, Nick,” Aiden said, turning to his brother. “Aria needs a dance partner.”
“What? You can’t handle her?” Nicholas joked.
“Just watch her, Nick,” he ordered.
Having given up on swaying Aiden into a dance, I stopped moving. “Watch me for what?” I asked. “And why can’t you dance with me?”
“I will. Just not now,” Aiden said. He turned away and headed toward the entrance.
“What’s going on, Nicholas?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said, leaning down to my ear. “He got a text a few minutes ago and damn near lost it.”
Moments later, Aiden was following two huge security men as they escorted another guy toward the rear of the club. I pointed it out to Nicholas.
“Aria, grab a seat with my sisters and Anja. Wait at the table for us,” Nicholas said. “I need to see what’s going on.” He headed in the direction Aiden had disappeared.
Turning my attention from Nicholas, I looked for Allison. She was dancing with a group of girls and I didn’t see the point in interrupting her fun. Since I couldn’t focus on my own, I walked to the table to wait on Aiden but after only a few minutes, my curiosity got the better of me, so I went in search of him.
There were several closed doors along the dark corridor, so I slowed my steps, listening for recognizable voices. The music was too loud for me to distinguish anything, so I waited. Eventually a door opened, and Aiden and Nicholas emerged.
Aiden frowned when he saw me. “What are you doing back here?”
“Wondering the same thing about you.”
“See you in a few, bro,” Nicholas said, walking past us.
Before I could get an answer from my husband, the two large security guys filed past us. They were ushering that same guy around, but this time his nose was bleeding.
I looked back at Aiden. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Who’s that guy and why is he bleeding?” I asked.
Ignoring my question, Aiden asked one of his own. “Didn’t you want to dance?”
I tossed him a warning look and waited for an answer. When he saw I wasn’t backing down, he let out a frustrated sigh and guided me back to the room from which he’d just come.
“Remember several months ago when you and I were at odds about Lyric? You were being you, and went out to a bar,” he said, once he’d closed the door.
“What do you mean, I was being me?” I asked.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Please continue,” I urged.
“I followed you to the bar, and we talked—or maybe flirted is a better word for it. Either way it led to our behaving rather indiscreetly on the side of that bar.”
“Yes, I remember.” How could anyone forget a night like that?
Aiden leaned back on the desk. “Do you recall anything standing out about that night?”
“Other than it being hot as fuck?” That night we’d been so caught up in each other. We hadn’t cared about anything beyond our connection. Not only had I let Aiden fuck me outside that bar, I’d been so starved for his taste that I’d even given him a blow job.
“It was definitely intense,” he said. “But I’m referring to something else.”
He was referring to that pervert. “Was that the guy who’d been watching us?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“How did you know that was him?”
“When I’d spoken with the security team about locating Nadia and Lyric, I’d also told them to get in contact with the owner of the bar to grab their security footage. I wanted to see how long that asshole had watched us and to see if he’d taken pictures or videos.”
That had never crossed my mind, but for someone like Aiden, of course, shutting down the paparazzi was a part of his life.
“Turns out he did,” Aiden said.
My eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? Where are they?”
“It’s okay. I have quite a few contacts in the press. One of whom contacted me about an offer from a sleaze who wanted to sell them pictures of us. I took it from there and here we are.”
“He agreed to meet you here?” I asked.
“He didn’t know he’d be meeting me.”
“Oh. And you beat up the guy?”
“No,” Aiden said.
“Then where’d the blood come from?”
“It was just one punch. Guess he’s a bleeder,” Aiden said, shrugging nonchalantly.
“It’s our own fault. We should have known better,” I said. “What were we thinking?”
“We weren’t. But that doesn’t give some asshole the right to take pictures and try to sell them.”
“What if he sues you?”
He smirked. “That won’t happen.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Let’s just say I have the art of persuasion on my side. He won’t be trying to sue or sell anything. Trust me.”
A past regret, also known as Dane Patrick, came to mind. If Aiden’s confrontation with that guy from the bar was in any way like the one with Dane, I doubted that horrible pervert would be a problem anymore. Being at odds with Aiden was intense as hell, often times intimidating, but his wrath was a thousand times worse when directed at someone for whom he held nothing but contempt.
“You know, I’ve always wondered about that night.”
“What about it?” he asked.
“How did you find me? And why did you finally let your guard down?”
“Allison told me where you were. She said if I had any plan to reclaim you, I’d better do it before our fights damaged us beyond repair. And she was right. Things were pretty bad.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” I said. “And the sex?”
“That wasn’t planned,” he said, stepping toward me.
“But you didn’t do anything to stop it,” I said.
His brows furrowed. “Why would I?”
“Even though we were being watched?”
Aiden placed his palm along my jaw, his thumb caressing my cheek. “At one time, I told you I didn’t—I couldn’t—think when it came to you. More often than not, that’s still the case, and that winter night was one of those moments when my desire for you got the better of me. I couldn’t see or feel anything but you. That was all that mattered.”
It was as though he were describing my own feelings when it came to him. I’d been on auto-pilot that night. “And looking back on it now?” I asked.
“It was careless.”
“I would have died had those pictures been made public,” I said. “Can you imagine what Lyric would think of us if he saw those online one day?”
“Well, problem averted—so no need to worry about it.” Aiden leaned in and kissed me sweetly on the lips. “Now, where’s the hot little number who was begging for a dance?” he asked, just as David Guetta’s Bang My Head sifted through the office speakers.
“Begging? Please. I would hardly beg for those questionable dance moves.”
Aiden grinned and shook his head at me as he pulled me from the office. We danced like two lustful teenagers, each trying to one-up the other. After two songs, we were both worked up. We decided no more dancing for the night and headed back to our table. Aiden grinned and made a motion toward the door.
I shook my head, laughing at his suggestion that we take our display outside. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Why?”
“Too soon after dodging the last bullet,” I said.
He patted my backside. “I love dancing with you,” he said.
“Ditto.”
“There once was a girl who was too worried about what others would think of her if she danced in public. What happened to her?” Aiden asked, as we stepped toward the others.
“I guess your killer bedroom skills did what you said.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Once upon a time, a very insubordinate intern told his boss she was rigid and uptight.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I think I was there for that.”
“And he followed up by saying he could help her with that. So I guess he did.”
Aiden and I were too caught up in each other to notice how the others were staring at us.
“You two must have one hell of a sex life because your dancing is almost too private to watch,” Nicholas said.
“You’re crossing a line,” Aiden said, throwing his brother a warning look. “Don’t go there.”
“Dude, I’m just saying—”
“And I’m saying, don’t go there, Nick,” Aiden warned, his voice low. “If I’m not mistaken, you have your own date to keep you occupied. Or has she already lost interest?”
I’d never taken Nicholas’ comments to heart—I’d always considered it innocent flirting. It was also Nicholas’s way of getting under Aiden’s skin, but I’d often wondered how far Aiden would let his brother go.
“Let’s get some drinks. This round’s on me,” Allison said, tactfully distracting the two brothers.
*****
“I’m ready for bed,” Aiden said, reaching for my hand.
“Just because you are, doesn’t mean I am,” I replied, pushing his hand away. “Go ahead and I’ll be up later.”
“Yeah, leave her alone,” Nicholas said. “Aria knows when she wants to call it a night.”
Ignoring his brother, Aiden leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Not later. I want you upstairs now … with everything off except your panties and those boots.”
Aiden stood over me, confident as always and very expectant. His gaze dropped to my crossed legs before making their slow progression to my eyes. His beguiling irises had already transitioned into two dark emeralds, shimmering with the mischievousness of his words. I tore my gaze from his and found the others were observing my exchange with Aiden. I wondered what they were thinking, but as quickly as that thought popped into my head, it disappeared. I didn’t care. All I could focus on was Aiden’s request. To refuse him would be like an addict suddenly saying no to her drug of choice.
And that’s what he was … my drug. I was addicted to him. He need but dangle his gift and I was ready for whatever he had in mind. Already intrigued by what awaited me, I ignored the wondering glances of my in-laws and said the only thing any sane woman would. “Thanks for a great night, you guys. Goodnight.”
Nicholas shook his head at us, his gaze moving from Aiden to me. “I don’t know who’s more whipped.”
“Maybe because it’s none of your concern, brother-in-law,” I said, and grabbed Aiden’s hand, tugging him behind me.
Upstairs in Aiden’s former bedroom, he closed the door as I started to remove my top.
“The next time I tell you to go to bed, I expect you to do it,” he said. He walked over to me, and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. “Understand?”
It was as though he’d tugged the walls of my sex, because I felt it there more than in my scalp. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s my girl.”
“So now that you have me sans clothing, are you planning to show me what all the fuss is about?” I asked.
“Dance for me.”
“You called me up to dance?”
“Not just any dance, he said, pulling me toward him. “I want a lap dance. I want to see how hard you can make my dick before I have to fuck you.”
*****
Date night with my husband and family had been the ideal way to brighten our fateful trip to Chicago. Aiden, Lyric, Dianna and I ended up spending two additional days to begin working through some family issues. We wanted to be the support Connor and Sienna needed to put their marriage on the right track. Sienna and Connor were leaving the following day for a couples’ retreat.
After our last family meal, I went to the nursery to collect Lyric and found myself watching him.
“What are you doing?” Aiden asked, suddenly stepping behind me.
“Watching our son entertain himself,” I said.
“Hey, little man. Weren’t you listening when your dad said your toes aren’t proper food?”
“He puts everything in his mouth,” I said, laughing.
Once we’d gathered Lyric, we said our goodbyes to Connor and Sienna, who stood in the doorway waving at us as we left.
“Look what you did,” Aiden said, kissing my forehead.
“What?”
“That,” he said, motioning toward the door where the other kids had joined Connor and Sienna.
“I really hope it lasts,” I said.
“I’m inclined to believe it will.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never seen my father afraid of anything. Never saw him back down from a fight. I think Mother’s little stunt may have just scared him straight.”
“I don’t know. Nine times out of ten, people revert to type.”
“So you don’t think my father is capable of real reform?”
“I’m surprised that you do.”
“I guess you’d have to know my father longer than you have to really see what I see.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I said. “I hope so. We’ll all be the better for it.”
“Remember when you wanted nothing to do with family?” Aiden asked. “Least of all mine. Look at you now … you’ve come in and taken over the entire show.”